By Mark W. OlsonMichael Paulson

A man who violently assaulted a Chaska woman in 1991 was denied a prison sentence reduction earlier this month.

Michael Allen Paulson, 44, is serving out his 25-year prison sentence in Minnesota Correctional Facility-Moose Lake.

Paulson was sentenced on Oct. 4, 1991, after pleading guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to an Oct. 10 1991 Chaska Herald article.

At the Jan. 10, 2008 hearing, the Carver County Attorney’s Office opposed the sentence reduction. According to an Attorney’s Office press release, Assistant Attorney Michael Wentzell argued, based on Paulson’s criminal history, that “He poses a public safety risk of the highest magnitude. Moreover, the crime he committed was heinous and deserves the longest punishment available.”

Judge Kevin Eide issued the order denying Paulson’s early release from prison.

Jim Keeler, then an assistant attorney, was the original prosecutor on the case.  He left the Carver County office in 1996, before recently being appointed Carver County Attorney. “Over the course of my career, it is still one of the most violent sexual assaults that I certainly ever reviewed, and had been involved in prosecuting,” Keeler recalled. “There were a number of aspects that were particularly troubling, not the least of which is that Paulson was in a sex offender treatment program at the time of the offense.”

Prior to the Chaska assault, Paulson had been convicted of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and one count of first-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct. At the time, he was suspected in at least six other rapes, and according to the article, testimony alleged he admitted to assaulting between 10 and 15 women.

For the earlier charges, Paulson was sentenced to over 10 years, most of which he served in prison. Ultimately he entered a residential treatment program for sex offenders in Minnetonka.

Assault

On the evening March 17, 1991, he walked away from the program, following railroad tracks to Chaska. According to court testimony, he roamed a residential area seeking a victim.

Then, at 6:38 a.m., March 18, Paulson waited for a Chaska woman’s husband to leave work, and then attacked the 22-year-old in her garage as she prepared to get into her automobile, the Herald article reported.

 He threatened her with what he said was a knife (later revealed to be a potato peeler) and force her into the house, where he violently assaulted her for 45 minutes.

He then stole the woman’s car and left the Twin Cities. The 1991 Herald article reported, that “terrified and sobbing, the woman, clad in her nightclothes, made her way to a neighbor’s house seeking help.”

Paulson drove to the Gunflint Trail, where he thought about suicide, the article reported, then drove to Duluth and turned himself in to authorities. He later said in court, “I need to go to prison, do time. I should be locked up until I change.”

At the time, psychiatric experts stated that he was dangerous.

The victim and her husband moved from the home, which was “a constant reminder of the event. … It’s hard to stay by myself. I have no feeling of security in my home,” the woman said.

“In our judgment, we just don’t think it’s worth the risk to let him out any earlier than the law absolutely requires, and that is simply because he has demonstrated himself to be fully incapable of controlling his impulses,” Keeler said.